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  <section id="target-include-directories">
<span id="command:target_include_directories"></span><h1>target_include_directories<a class="headerlink" href="#target-include-directories" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h1>
<p>Add include directories to a target.</p>
<div class="highlight-cmake notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="nf">target_include_directories(</span><span class="nv">&lt;target&gt;</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">[</span><span class="no">SYSTEM</span><span class="p">]</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">[</span><span class="no">AFTER</span><span class="p">|</span><span class="no">BEFORE</span><span class="p">]</span>
<span class="w">  </span><span class="o">&lt;</span><span class="no">INTERFACE</span><span class="p">|</span><span class="no">PUBLIC</span><span class="p">|</span><span class="no">PRIVATE</span><span class="o">&gt;</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">[</span><span class="nb">items1...</span><span class="p">]</span>
<span class="w">  </span><span class="p">[</span><span class="o">&lt;</span><span class="no">INTERFACE</span><span class="p">|</span><span class="no">PUBLIC</span><span class="p">|</span><span class="no">PRIVATE</span><span class="o">&gt;</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">[</span><span class="nb">items2...</span><span class="p">]</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="p">...]</span><span class="nf">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Specifies include directories to use when compiling a given target.
The named <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;target&gt;</span></code> must have been created by a command such
as <span class="target" id="index-0-command:add_executable"></span><a class="reference internal" href="add_executable.html#command:add_executable" title="add_executable"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">add_executable()</span></code></a> or <span class="target" id="index-0-command:add_library"></span><a class="reference internal" href="add_library.html#command:add_library" title="add_library"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">add_library()</span></code></a> and must not be an
<a class="reference internal" href="../manual/cmake-buildsystem.7.html#alias-targets"><span class="std std-ref">ALIAS target</span></a>.</p>
<p>By using <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">AFTER</span></code> or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">BEFORE</span></code> explicitly, you can select between appending
and prepending, independent of the default.</p>
<p>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INTERFACE</span></code>, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PUBLIC</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PRIVATE</span></code> keywords are required to specify
the <a class="reference internal" href="../manual/cmake-buildsystem.7.html#target-command-scope"><span class="std std-ref">scope</span></a> of the following arguments.
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PRIVATE</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PUBLIC</span></code> items will populate the <span class="target" id="index-0-prop_tgt:INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../prop_tgt/INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES.html#prop_tgt:INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES" title="INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES"><code class="xref cmake cmake-prop_tgt docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES</span></code></a>
property of <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;target&gt;</span></code>. <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PUBLIC</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INTERFACE</span></code> items will populate the
<span class="target" id="index-0-prop_tgt:INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../prop_tgt/INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES.html#prop_tgt:INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES" title="INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES"><code class="xref cmake cmake-prop_tgt docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES</span></code></a> property of <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;target&gt;</span></code>.
The following arguments specify include directories.</p>
<div class="versionadded">
<p><span class="versionmodified added">Added in version 3.11: </span>Allow setting <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INTERFACE</span></code> items on <a class="reference internal" href="../manual/cmake-buildsystem.7.html#imported-targets"><span class="std std-ref">IMPORTED targets</span></a>.</p>
</div>
<p>Repeated calls for the same <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">&lt;target&gt;</span></code> append items in the order called.</p>
<p>If <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">SYSTEM</span></code> is specified, the compiler will be told the directories
are meant as system include directories on some platforms.  This may
have effects such as suppressing warnings or skipping the contained
headers in dependency calculations (see compiler documentation).
Additionally, system include directories are searched after normal
include directories regardless of the order specified.</p>
<p>If <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">SYSTEM</span></code> is used together with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PUBLIC</span></code> or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INTERFACE</span></code>, the
<span class="target" id="index-0-prop_tgt:INTERFACE_SYSTEM_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../prop_tgt/INTERFACE_SYSTEM_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES.html#prop_tgt:INTERFACE_SYSTEM_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES" title="INTERFACE_SYSTEM_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES"><code class="xref cmake cmake-prop_tgt docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INTERFACE_SYSTEM_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES</span></code></a> target property will be
populated with the specified directories.</p>
<p>Arguments to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">target_include_directories</span></code> may use generator expressions
with the syntax <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">$&lt;...&gt;</span></code>. See the <span class="target" id="index-0-manual:cmake-generator-expressions(7)"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../manual/cmake-generator-expressions.7.html#manual:cmake-generator-expressions(7)" title="cmake-generator-expressions(7)"><code class="xref cmake cmake-manual docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">cmake-generator-expressions(7)</span></code></a>
manual for available expressions.  See the <span class="target" id="index-1-manual:cmake-buildsystem(7)"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../manual/cmake-buildsystem.7.html#manual:cmake-buildsystem(7)" title="cmake-buildsystem(7)"><code class="xref cmake cmake-manual docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">cmake-buildsystem(7)</span></code></a> manual
for more on defining buildsystem properties.</p>
<p>Specified include directories may be absolute paths or relative paths.
A relative path will be interpreted as relative to the current source
directory (i.e. <span class="target" id="index-0-variable:CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../variable/CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR.html#variable:CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR" title="CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR"><code class="xref cmake cmake-variable docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR</span></code></a>) and converted to an
absolute path before storing it in the associated target property.
If the path starts with a generator expression, it will always be assumed
to be an absolute path (with one exception noted below) and will be used
unmodified.</p>
<p>Include directories usage requirements commonly differ between the build-tree
and the install-tree.  The <span class="target" id="index-0-genex:BUILD_INTERFACE"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../manual/cmake-generator-expressions.7.html#genex:BUILD_INTERFACE" title="BUILD_INTERFACE"><code class="xref cmake cmake-genex docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">BUILD_INTERFACE</span></code></a> and
<span class="target" id="index-0-genex:INSTALL_INTERFACE"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../manual/cmake-generator-expressions.7.html#genex:INSTALL_INTERFACE" title="INSTALL_INTERFACE"><code class="xref cmake cmake-genex docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INSTALL_INTERFACE</span></code></a> generator expressions can be used to describe
separate usage requirements based on the usage location.  Relative paths
are allowed within the <span class="target" id="index-1-genex:INSTALL_INTERFACE"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../manual/cmake-generator-expressions.7.html#genex:INSTALL_INTERFACE" title="INSTALL_INTERFACE"><code class="xref cmake cmake-genex docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INSTALL_INTERFACE</span></code></a> expression and are
interpreted as relative to the installation prefix.  Relative paths should not
be used in <span class="target" id="index-1-genex:BUILD_INTERFACE"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../manual/cmake-generator-expressions.7.html#genex:BUILD_INTERFACE" title="BUILD_INTERFACE"><code class="xref cmake cmake-genex docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">BUILD_INTERFACE</span></code></a> expressions because they will not be
converted to absolute.  For example:</p>
<div class="highlight-cmake notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="nf">target_include_directories(</span><span class="nb">mylib</span><span class="w"> </span><span class="no">PUBLIC</span>
<span class="w">  </span><span class="o">$&lt;</span><span class="no">BUILD_INTERFACE</span><span class="o">:${</span><span class="nt">CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR</span><span class="o">}</span><span class="na">/include/mylib</span><span class="o">&gt;</span>
<span class="w">  </span><span class="o">$&lt;</span><span class="no">INSTALL_INTERFACE</span><span class="o">:</span><span class="na">include/mylib</span><span class="o">&gt;</span><span class="w">  </span><span class="c"># &lt;prefix&gt;/include/mylib</span>
<span class="nf">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<section id="creating-relocatable-packages">
<h2>Creating Relocatable Packages<a class="headerlink" href="#creating-relocatable-packages" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<p>Note that it is not advisable to populate the <span class="target" id="index-2-genex:INSTALL_INTERFACE"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../manual/cmake-generator-expressions.7.html#genex:INSTALL_INTERFACE" title="INSTALL_INTERFACE"><code class="xref cmake cmake-genex docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INSTALL_INTERFACE</span></code></a> of
the <span class="target" id="index-2-prop_tgt:INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../prop_tgt/INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES.html#prop_tgt:INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES" title="INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES"><code class="xref cmake cmake-prop_tgt docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES</span></code></a> of a target with absolute paths to the include
directories of dependencies.  That would hard-code into installed packages
the include directory paths for dependencies
<strong>as found on the machine the package was made on</strong>.</p>
<p>The <span class="target" id="index-3-genex:INSTALL_INTERFACE"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../manual/cmake-generator-expressions.7.html#genex:INSTALL_INTERFACE" title="INSTALL_INTERFACE"><code class="xref cmake cmake-genex docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INSTALL_INTERFACE</span></code></a> of the <span class="target" id="index-3-prop_tgt:INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../prop_tgt/INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES.html#prop_tgt:INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES" title="INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES"><code class="xref cmake cmake-prop_tgt docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES</span></code></a> is only
suitable for specifying the required include directories for headers
provided with the target itself, not those provided by the transitive
dependencies listed in its <span class="target" id="index-0-prop_tgt:INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../prop_tgt/INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES.html#prop_tgt:INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES" title="INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES"><code class="xref cmake cmake-prop_tgt docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES</span></code></a> target
property.  Those dependencies should themselves be targets that specify
their own header locations in <span class="target" id="index-4-prop_tgt:INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../prop_tgt/INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES.html#prop_tgt:INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES" title="INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES"><code class="xref cmake cmake-prop_tgt docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES</span></code></a>.</p>
<p>See the <a class="reference internal" href="../manual/cmake-packages.7.html#creating-relocatable-packages"><span class="std std-ref">Creating Relocatable Packages</span></a> section of the
<span class="target" id="index-0-manual:cmake-packages(7)"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../manual/cmake-packages.7.html#manual:cmake-packages(7)" title="cmake-packages(7)"><code class="xref cmake cmake-manual docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">cmake-packages(7)</span></code></a> manual for discussion of additional care
that must be taken when specifying usage requirements while creating
packages for redistribution.</p>
</section>
<section id="see-also">
<h2>See Also<a class="headerlink" href="#see-also" title="Link to this heading">¶</a></h2>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><span class="target" id="index-0-command:include_directories"></span><a class="reference internal" href="include_directories.html#command:include_directories" title="include_directories"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">include_directories()</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><span class="target" id="index-0-command:target_compile_definitions"></span><a class="reference internal" href="target_compile_definitions.html#command:target_compile_definitions" title="target_compile_definitions"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">target_compile_definitions()</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><span class="target" id="index-0-command:target_compile_features"></span><a class="reference internal" href="target_compile_features.html#command:target_compile_features" title="target_compile_features"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">target_compile_features()</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><span class="target" id="index-0-command:target_compile_options"></span><a class="reference internal" href="target_compile_options.html#command:target_compile_options" title="target_compile_options"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">target_compile_options()</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><span class="target" id="index-0-command:target_link_libraries"></span><a class="reference internal" href="target_link_libraries.html#command:target_link_libraries" title="target_link_libraries"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">target_link_libraries()</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><span class="target" id="index-0-command:target_link_directories"></span><a class="reference internal" href="target_link_directories.html#command:target_link_directories" title="target_link_directories"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">target_link_directories()</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><span class="target" id="index-0-command:target_link_options"></span><a class="reference internal" href="target_link_options.html#command:target_link_options" title="target_link_options"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">target_link_options()</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><span class="target" id="index-0-command:target_precompile_headers"></span><a class="reference internal" href="target_precompile_headers.html#command:target_precompile_headers" title="target_precompile_headers"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">target_precompile_headers()</span></code></a></p></li>
<li><p><span class="target" id="index-0-command:target_sources"></span><a class="reference internal" href="target_sources.html#command:target_sources" title="target_sources"><code class="xref cmake cmake-command docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">target_sources()</span></code></a></p></li>
</ul>
</section>
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